#downton digressions

[kanerallels]

New day new ask but! Yes, The Scarlet Pimpernel novel is amaaaaaazzziinnng. The old original movie is also fun! But imho the 82 movie is far the superior of the film versions. I also absolutely insanely adore the Broadway musical from the 90s, and there's a great ya/apocalyptic sort of retelling called Rook by Sharon Cameron that I also love.

But I highly recommend watching the movie (it's a little long and slowish and 80s hair but perfect, then reading the book (it's very short and a pretty easy read), then listening to the musical soundtrack. (Fair warning, they all have slightly different endings as far as the final climax, but with generally good reason for the changes and they kind of took elements from Baroness Orczy's other novels about the character.)

Sir Percy Blakeney is the best hero with a secret identity to ever hero identity secretly, tbh. He's clever and charming and idiotic and hysterical and dashing and pathetic. And Marguerite is sweet and smart and daring and ridiculous and sly and witty and splendid. -deep sigh- yeah, highly recommend 10/10 every time. Ok bye!

Okay this is all AMAZING. The retelling thing is 101 percent going on my list, and this sounds really great!! I also saw a post once that compared Sir Percy to not one, but two of my all time favorite fictional characters, so like. I can't just not watch it, ya know?

Also you should know that after I got this ask last night I went down a rabbit hole of looking at the actors in this movie (IAN MCKELLAN??? AND THE GUY WHO DIRECTED DOWNTON FREAKING ABBEY???) and then I saw that the guy who plays Percy is also in Ivanhoe from the same year, and I couldn't NOT investigate that (I love Ivanhoe, okay? It's definitely problematic because it was written years and years ago, whatever. I still love it. This is not the time for a rant about it) and now I. Might have to watch a 1982 production of Ivanhoe because it's got some EXCELLENT actors in it including Julian Glover who plays one of my emotional support background character in Star Wars (mainly thanks to this fan fic that you specifically would love because it's got all these honorable caring male characters who do what's right and the platonic relationships? Flawless. I digress) and SAM FREAKING NEILL PLAYS SIR BRIAN DE BOIS-GUILBERT??? To say nothing of yet another Downton Abbey actor being there.

But I digress--I really wanna watch this thanks to that whole rabbit hole from last night, and I also really wanna watch Ivanhoe lol! If I do watch it, I shall let you know, I promise!!

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

ask #2 what head canons do you have about Tom and Mary's relationship

OHHHH A DOWNTON ABBEY QUESTION

Okay okay so i need to acknowledge how feral I am about these two. Also i sorta checked out after the show shoved Mary and skinny chad number 7ish down the aisle (Is his name Henry or something??? the race car driver whatever, fuck him 😆)

(I still dont understand how they expect me to believe that the love of her life dies in a devastating car accident but she would willingly re-marry a race car driver. brain does not compute)

I digress. I think Tom and she develope this insanely deep emotional bond in that first year without their spouses as a result of their shared grief. They each married for love at a time when few others of their social group would have had the chance to do so (Tom is extra isolated on account of he isnt yet accepted into that social group). I think they really heavily depend on eachother in the beginning. someone else who just gets that grief. and also was close to the spouse who died so it's two sides of a coin. they gravitate towards the one other person they feel fully understands them and they help the other A. remember the love who died and B (more in Mary's case) remember what kind of person that love inspired them to be.

And i headcanon that by the time they might be ready for romance again theyve fallen into this inexplicable deep emotional entanglement with the other. it would be incredibly hard to find something more fulfilling. at the same time, transforming that connection into romance would probably be terrifying (would the other want that? would it be a betrayal of Matthew and Sybil to move on together) oodles of grief there.

I think Tom actually goes to Boston at all because he realizes whats happening and it scares him. on the one hand he thinks it isnt fair to mary to hold her back from a romance. on the other hes not quite sure if he could ever move on from Sybil. (And of course be comes back because he cant bear to be away from Mary and figures he can find a way to control the attraction. maybe by committing himself to helping her find new love.)

Which is about where what I headcanon and what the show does diverge. I cant wrap by head around her marrying skinny man number 7. i just cant. Husband material is right there at the breakfast table with her. Why would she go for Henry when she already has Tom?

I also think theyre good for eachother okay! they encourage and empower eachother. She helps him navigate the code switching he needs to do to be a part of the peerage. he helps her find her way out of the constricting box the peerage has always pressured her to conform to. Him being estate agent opens the door for her to take control over it. theirs is a partnership. running the whole thing together. beause he respects her opinion and welcomes her to the table as an equal, it effectively gives her the control over her home shes always felt like she cant have due to her sex.

So in my headcanon she either dumps skinny man or has an unhappy marriage to skinny man that prompts Tom and she to have a conversation about what they really want. And then they would get together And i could frankly read stories about them getting together foreverrr.

[hislittleraincloud]

I can’t STAND when people try to police a fandom. And I also can’t stand when people try to speak for their fave and act like they know what they’re talking about. 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

*re: certain Jenna fans and WSSF and being so pressed about it

What I can't stand is that criticism is frowned upon because celebrity worship is too strong a compulsion for humans even in the year 2024. It's what ruined our damn country and made everyone dumber, and I hate that Imma die in a world where a fucking brainless imbecile's "been elected" to lead us into the ground again, despite us knowing how bad it was before. But as usual I digress.

WSSF will come out eventually, it'll be Ortega's 3rd bomb of 2024, and life will roll on, just as life's rolled on with Wednesday 2. Things will suck in terms of continuity (and those wigs, have they fucking learned nothing) and chances are — since there also seems to be a media literacy crisis as well as a general literacy crisis in this country — people will seagull around it like it's sliced bread until the next shiny, distracting thing comes along.

Fandom is as fandom does and there will always be weird strife, even in the most benign of fandoms (though I think the one that was most lacking in that kind of drama was Downton Abbey...I smelt no whiff of dissatisfaction with each other over there, it was nice). But I do gotta say that once I was given a glimpse of the Ortega fandom, I was ...impressed... by the levels of parasocial psychosis/protectionism regarding policing who she was hanging out with IRL. Y'all kids are on one hand yammering about protecting her privacy and boundaries and ya dee da but then go on and post the invasive pap shit everywhere, and/or continue to insist on shipping Jemma when one half of that ship has told y'all explicitly not to ship real people together.

And as evidenced lately, I say one thing about her nose — as if thousands upon thousands of people don't sit and yammer about other celebrities the same way — and suddenly I'm the weirdo again.

Okay, fine, I'm the first weirdo to fixate on the nose thing. I'm an artist (hyperrealistic at times) and a writer. Of course I fixate on details like that. My brain needs to know where things are in order to convey an accurate description, and when they change, I need to then adjust to the changes — which means actually acknowledging changes, which this fandom doesn't seem to care to do because it's cultish and no one should dare say anything "against" the pedestal princess, even if it's merely acknowledging her changes [to the very thing that is her moneymaker].

Anyhoo. I just realized that I have a lot of shit in drafts. Some of you anons that I thought I posted but didn't. LOL

[agentfascinateur]

Anecdotal

This is a bit random. But something is making me think about... Russell Crowe. So I'm on YouTube and there he is. As many know, he just did a movie called The Pope's Exorcist. In an interview, he talks about another movie, Unhinged, and a great story about New Orleans and a haunted house having belonged to a crash victim. His movie was about... a crash victim. I'll have to one day sit and have a Russell Crowe movie festival, right after my Catherine Deneuve, Romy Schneider and maybe one more festival. I digress. Back to my story. I belonged to a prayer group with my late friend whose home housed an oiling phenomenon whereby every religious icon oils. There would sometimes be "flows" too, where there'd be a surge and oil would come pouring down these makeshift eavesdroughs her husband made, with pitchers to catch the oil on the end. The Church knew about it, and she'd ask my help with busloads arriving at her townhouse. I met her after a cancer scare. She was mentioned to me by a woman who was part of a Greyhound Rescue organization where I got my first dog Dillon. So on Thursday afternoons, we'd get together about 8-10 of us, in the main oiling room and recite the rosary. (Through my friend, I became consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary). (Not a stretch, since many in our family were of the cloth). On one afternoon, a bus came from Ottawa. About 30-45 people came streaming through. I was preparing the snacks when a commotion happened in the room and I joined the group. Someone was writhing on the floor, foaming at the mouth and speaking foully in an altered voice. A diminutive otherwise meek looking woman who accompanied another older woman. We clasped hands and prayed. I was utterly scared and slightly freaked out, but we persevered until the woman on the ground passed out and then came to, completely confused and not remembering what happened. The group left, and I sat with my friend and her husband, looking at her calm demeanour while I was thoroughly drained. She'd seen similar things before. I never have since, however I'm more attuned now to personality changes maybe. On the upside, my friend's home was where many prayed for miracles and where many returned to say their health diagnosis changed for the better. My friend introduced me to Marmora, a special place in Ontario where I took a terminally ill friend and where she got to "smell the roses" as apparitions of Mary are said to bring. I was miffed it never worked on me but what can you do. I recently also went to my personal favourite shrine called Mount Carmel, in Niagara, to Sainte-Therese de Lisieux. I've gotten small miracles there. I went and began praying also to my late friend as an intercessor, for the recovery of a friend's husband after surgery. All this to circle back to exorcisms. In the summer of 2015, amid the beginning of this current cycle of upheavals, I had a dream and it was set in a room of what looked like Downton Abbey where I fought an amazing dark force that pushed me back twice before I destroyed it once in the room. I felt I killed Satan, quite frankly, not to boast. Although when I saw myself, looking down at the cuts on my legs prior to entering, I was in the form of a man. No ordinary man, I'm sure, but maybe someone who had summoned the small conscious particle of Mary that I make up, along with many others. And it now felt too like only minor demons were left to deal with. I told my friend. It was just a dream... My friend's name was Maureen.

[kehlana-wolhamonao3]

First of all, can I say that I hate the new Tumblr interface. They but "Ask" right next to "Report" and I was one tap from accidently reporting you.

Can they stop screwing with the control functions?!

Anyway, I digress ...

I was wondering if you'd give me a consult from one writer to another on something.

I've been planning and talking up a Mary/Matthew story for years - inspired by a lot of things but mostly "Last Night in Soho" - and the one thing I was puzzling is really fundamental to the story.

It's AU - sort of - in that I've built up a Downton Extended Universe for years and in a way its a continuation of that universe just set in the future, in fact I've been building the story up for a long time through foreshadowing in other stories since 2019.

However, I'm not sure how I want to open it.

See, the premise of the story is that there is an actress/singer/part-time Lingerie Model in a present/futuristic London named Mary - go figure - who is starting to have these vivid dreams of an Edwardian Great Lady's who looks exactly like her. In particular she is haunted by visions and memories of a handsome blonde gentleman of whom she's falling in love with. There is also a murder mystery surrounding the death of her main competition for the play they were both going out for based on a famous novel by " Lady Edith Pelham".

The plot is probably a bit more Doctor Who inspired than I'm sure the fandom would want in it - not aliens, but reincarnation and supernatural elements and so forth. Which is usual fair for me, but I haven't gotten a review in years, despite doing well in terms of reader count.

Anyway, I have the story series broken down into three. Mary's story is a detective story, Matthew's is a Pulp historical Adventure story, and the final one is a romance story that focuses on both of them coming together. With their descendent being the overarching protagonist and hero that holds it all together.

Finally! My question.

In your opinion, do you think I should open the entire thing on how Mary and Matthew ended up where they are and what happened to Downton Abbey in the past, or should I leave it off till the final story?

Cause part of the mystery of the story that gets brought up quite a bit is the folklore and famous legend of the disappearance of Downton Abbey and The County Grantham 100 years ago (or 70 years ago if I decide to set in the present) which has spawned - in universe - countless documentaries and reality shows, including a very famous ITV Show. But the only person who knows the truth of what happened are the mysterious and "Cracked" exiled heirs of the fallen House of Grantham that guard the secrets of Downton with their lives.

I don't know, I'm torn if I want to start off with a bang - a kick in the balls. Or if I should gradually feed in clues about what happened to Downton and her inhabitants the night that the House of Grantham fell.

As a reader of all things - well, most things, I imagine - Mary/Matthew and a writer of consistency and consequence, what do you think?

Tell'em from the start or tease it out?

Sorry for the long ask and if you don't want to read the wall up there, I understand ... it just you're the only active Mary/Matthew Downton fanfic writer that I know of and I've been mulling this over for days.

First of all let me tell you that I would totally read this story! I am also Doctor Who fan and love timey wimey types of plot. I also have read some pretty wild plots in the DA fandom (crossover with Doctor Who, ghosts, time travel and not just my own), so I think it would fit right in.

I think both approaches are valid and I understand why it is a dilemma which one to choose. I think I might have gone with hints and gradual reveal of the mystery, but in a similar case I just wrote two different versions of a chapter and checked which one I liked better. If you want, I can act as a beta and read them if you decide to go that way.

[amelierose13]

Downton Digressions - Season 3, Episode 3

So yes, it’s become apparent that at this point, Julian and whoever else wrote the show had absolutely no plan for these characters’ long-term trajectories. I know it was soapy coming in, but the writing is starting to throw my ability to have emotional investment in the show besides wishing Bates could be out of prison. These episodic pieces of Drama are not filling enough. I couldn’t believe they would really kill off Mrs. Hughes (though my No Fear approach to them killing off main characters will be shattered in just a short while).  Even the second time around, I couldn't summon up any reaction to this plot, and I *love* her character. It just seemed as if they were writing a Cancer Scare plot that would eventually resolve itself in a negative test result and never be mentioned again, and indeed, that's what happened.  

Edith's Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - even Mary was being considerate of her (THRICE IN ONE EPISODE, take note! It’s a record!). It doesn't help that Robert was less than enthusiastic and that Edith herself put out a very strange case for why she wanted to marry Sir Anthony - not in spite of, but... because of ??? What? J scented out the jilting before it happened - I mean, if they're not going to show Mary and Matthew's wedding after all it took to get them to the altar, any viewing of poor Edith's would only be to show disaster. I hope Strallan kept his eyes down on his way out of the church, because Carson had laser-beam eyes on him the whole length of the aisle. And what point were they making about having old chauffeurs? That Edith escaped living with a bunch of octogenarians? Just because Strallan is older doesn't mean his chauffeurs have to be ancient!

One moment we can all celebrate is that the subplot about losing Downton is finally over! Maybe knowing that there were many more seasons presumably set at the house (they didn't change the name, after all) gave me less patience for it, but Matthew seemed pretty ridiculous and the whole thing was a stupid argument. What's wrong with letting them be happy, Julian? There are plenty of ways to write interesting interactions without having characters lock horns or have horrible things happen to them, Julian. Can't Mary and Matthew just be *happy* for a bit? Sheesh!

Which naturally leads into another couple who damn well deserves just a bit of peace and happiness (can't keep season four from overshadowing this, gar) - at least Bates has a buddy to help watch his back in prison. And does Mrs. Bartlett know who Anna is? I assume, Anna being Anna, she would have laid out the case in the letter that she was trying to get information to help free Bates. So why did Mrs. Bartlett agree to meet her at all? To deliver that trollop jab? It almost makes me think Mrs. Bartlett didn't know, how she went on about Vera like that.

Other Tasty Tidbits

Is it strange that Carson didn't even know about Downton’s possible downfall? Usually the family can't keep a secret from the staff for a minute without someone overhearing. How on earth did they not breathe even a hint of it to them? I'm impressed.

Carson is really warming up to Alfred! I love seeing him get his mother hen on with Mrs. Hughes, and her rebuff of it. Best part was his singing, of course. Carson needs to sing more often, if only for the audience to take pleasure in that lovely bass voice.

Daisy taking dating advice from Anna - and then Anna saying that women being forward scares off the men? Like she's one to talk... I forgot about all of the flirting that happened between Daisy and Alfred. No wonder she disliked the soon-to-arrive Ivy like she did.

And Alfred the future chef was turning his nose up at a wedding feast?! Did that not seem just a bit OOC? That looks like the finest meal they've ever seen downstairs, and if he's going to be cooking at the Ritz, he'll need to taste what he's making!

I'm preeeeeetty sure Hugh Bonneville was hired for his *looks* of relief and gratitude. Or that famous pan from the end of season one after announcing the war. J still makes fun of that one and will imitate it often to get a laugh out of me.

O'Brien actually looked hurt by Thomas' comment about never being offered marriage - and then the gloves came off and the claws came out.

Molesley is too pure for this world, nevermind that house! He hasn't been around Thomas long enough, and looks like an animal in a trap when it comes to being stuck between him and O'Brien. Poor dear!

[vreenak]

Charles Edwards as Michael Gregson in Downton Abbey: A Journey to the Highlands. [4/?]

[greenandhazy]

I've got a bit of Richard meta, putting it beneath the cut for spoilers. and just fyi, while it's not meant to be anti-Richard or anti-Barris at all, it's a bit... realist? yeah, that's the word I'm going with.

I think one of the reasons I’m not necessarily shocked about the Treatment of Richard in the new Downton movie is that… I was never 100% sold on who Richard was supposed to be in the first movie. We don’t get very much dialogue from him, a fair amount of what we do get is generically pleasant rather than deep, and some of the deep dialogue is, to a certain extent, contradicted or at least complicated by his actions.

I’ve seen people argue that he was very brave and open and therefore would never marry, citing especially the fact that 1) he rescued Thomas from the police when he didn’t have to, and 2) he kissed him in a room with an open door. Which both make sense! Those are brave and risky things to do. But from my perspective, the first one was him very much relying on a “boys will be boys” persona and the power of his position, and the second was a matter of a few seconds. They don’t say anything about what Richard would do if his position in the Royal Household was seriously threatened, if someone had real suspicions that couldn't be assuaged by his bravado, or if he had a significant amount of time to contemplate a decision that would have a lifelong impact.

And there were also moments in the first movie that suggested he was a more cautious figure than fanon interpretation. From my perspective:

1) the fact that Thomas didn’t seem sure that Richard was flirting with him until after the police station, even though they had an entire afternoon together—including a 20-mile drive into York.

2) “You’ll have to be more circumspect.” That’s a very different line compared to, say, “We’ve all been there,” which suggests a less careful personality, or even “Your secret’s safe with me,” which is somewhere in the middle and would still have worked with the gesture, if the writers really wanted to keep that.

3) “Well, we all do what we must. But, yeah.” (emphasis mine) This is in response to Thomas expressing frustration at having to fit in—and it’s Richard hedging. Saying “we do have to fit in sometimes, that’s just how it is.” Max Brown’s delivery of the first line is rather soft and there’s a little pause before he continues, which also reads as a bit resigned to me. Even if he agrees with Thomas that it’s nice to not have to, he’s more pragmatic about it than Thomas is.

And in terms of the cut wife from movie 1 reappearing in movie 2—we can debate about whether that’s a good or realistic idea, and I totally acknowledge people might justifiably dislike it. But I think a reasonable argument can be made that this plot point was cut because of what it did narratively (giving Thomas a downer ending with no relief, as opposed to movie 2 which gives him a downer beginning and hopeful ending), rather than in terms of character. (And narratively speaking, we could also call it a cop-out that this was tacked on to the next movie, instead of one where it might have been placed better in a character arc, but I digress.)

Looking at the last two things I cited in particular, it seems perfectly plausible that Richard was still written as The Kind of Guy Who Might Get Married in the first movie, even if they didn’t seal the deal on it. There’s also the contrast built into the narrative between Richard and Chris, in which Richard is put up as the safer, more conventional choice. Again, making it not surprising that he would choose a safer, more conventional life.

Of course, all of this is only my interpretation, and I understand if people have a different interpretation! Fanon characterization of Richard built up a lot out of relatively little, as it had to for a movie with this many characters, and people can disagree on to what extent certain things are emphasized, or should have been emphasized, or make for a good/well-written/interesting character and plot. But I’ve also seen a lot of shock and feeling that this came from out of the blue or that it is completely inconsistent with first-movie Richard and… I don’t think that’s true. I think there was a lot of ambiguity in Richard’s individual personality, as well as what his relationship with Thomas would be—it was promising, certainly, and it might have gone in a better direction, but we barely saw it. We saw Day One of their established interest in each other, Day Two if we’re being generous, and there are a lot of different ways a relationship can go off from the first two days. And whether or not it was well done or satisfying, I do think the writers gave themselves enough leeway to make this version of Richard at least credible. We are meant to assume things have happened offscreen that pushed him in this direction, sure, but it's not as shocking a development as it would have been if, say, Thomas was the one deciding to get married, which would in fact have been wildly inconsistent with a well-developed character.

[ml-quinn]

Downton Abbey: A New Era's "To Show That Time Has Passed" Side Plot Will Never Stop Being Funny to Me

In the series finale of Downton there's a whole to-do about Lord Merton's presumed pernicious anemia since it's "untreatable" (the scientific reality of this is questionable at best, but I digress) with the end reveal that he's only anemic.

In Downton Abbey: A New Era they rehash this exact plot with Cora's presumed cancer that turns out to be pernicious anemia, which is now treatable.

I can only assume the conversation in the writer's room went something like this:

I love you Downton, but there are other ways to communicate time period/the passage of time without putting people in pernicious anemia-based peril.

[jolie-goes-downton]

Thank you for posting information and answering questions about the movie. What was Mary's reaction to him leaving? Did any other characters have reaction to his departure?

You’re very welcome, Anon!

SPOILERS FOR DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA under the cut.

Here is the scene where Thomas resigns as butler of Downton, transcribed verbatim:

Thomas goes to find Lady Mary in the library.

THOMAS: The buffet in the hall is ready, M'lady.

MARY: Thank you, Barrow.

THOMAS: M'lady, I wonder if I might have a word.

MARY: Of course.

THOMAS: I'd like to hand in my notice.

MARY: Oh! I know you haven't always been happy here...

THOMAS: Ah, it's not that, M'lady, I've had good years at Downton. But I've formed a sort of... I'm not sure what it is, really... a working friendship with Mr Dexter.

MARY: Guy?

THOMAS: That's it, M'lady. And we mean to travel together. He'll make films and I'll look after him. I'll be his dresser, as the film people put it. And if I'm right, then it's the nearest I've come to the offer of an honest way of life.

MARY: You don't need to explain, Barrow. I wish you well. And I hope you'll be as happy as our cruel world allows.

THOMAS: Thank you, M'lady.

He leaves. Outside in the hall, Dexter is waiting for him.

DEXTER: Well?

THOMAS: I've done it.

DEXTER: Good.

They share a smile.

If you want a soundbite, let me know.

The only subsequent conversations about Thomas‘ departure revolve around how best to replace him. Mary talks about it with Robert (I think), then they tell Mrs Hughes that they’re going to ask Carson back to train up Andy as his eventual successor (never mind Andy still very much wants to be a farmer, but I digress). Mrs Hughes reacts with no visible enthusiasm, but she says nothing about Thomas either. Then Carson himself is asked whether he’s ready to take up the mantle again, and he agrees and also says he’s confident Andy will do well, in time (never mind the fellow is canonically only 22 years old at this point, but I digress again).

We don’t see Thomas talking to anyone about leaving. Nor do we see anyone talking about Thomas leaving. It’s like he’s dead to Downton after the resignation scene and once the succession is settled. We don’t see his actual departure either. However, the movie closes with a flash-forward to about a year after the main events, and Carson is the butler in that bit. We also see the other regular staff, but Thomas is missing. (But I can’t currently remember if Andy is there, and in what clothes/capacity.)

Hope this is helpful!

[olderthannetfic]

Isn't mdzs kind of a family saga though

--

I haven't read the book yet. The Untamed isn't. It does have a lot of characters, and it covers some major political events in the characters' world, but it's probably closer to a political thriller or adventure novel than a family saga.

This isn't Downton Abbey. It's one guy's journey to a happy ending. WWX is clearly the protagonist and a lot of the focus is on his personal feelings. True, we have some digressions into other characters' plots, but not on the level most soap operas do: These aren't separate threads woven together but support pieces for WWX's story.

There are some big themes about what it means to be good or moral, but that's not unusual in fantasy/adventure stuff. There isn't that 'sweeping change to our way of life because of WWII' or whatever that tends to show up in a lot of family saga. Bad people mess up their world. They root out the bad people. Their godawful system of government continues pretty much unchanged and, more importantly, unchallenged by the narrative.

Believe me, by the end, I was going "INVENT A PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM" and was fed up with the whole pack of them, but the show wasn't.

The span of time WWX actually experiences in the show is a few years. There's a time skip while he's dead, but neither he nor we, the audience, actually experience that, and we don't switch to the younger generation. He meets them, but they don't take over the story.

Historical and/or high fantasy can certainly lend itself well to family saga, but it can also be a romance novel or have lots of other plot structures/themes/focuses.

There totally are plenty of Chinese works that are xianxia, wuxia, or their progenitors that are either family saga or some other kind of expansive multi-protagonist, long span of time structure. The danmei flavor of these genres, however, by virtue of being danmei, tends to stick closer to two dudes who are the main ship. You see it in plenty of het c-dramas with a central het ship too.

What say you, book fans?

[patheticblorbloscholar]

You're a mean one Mr. Barrow

To be honest, I dont know how I got here. Maybe it was the Holiday spirit and my new hyper fixation of all things Thomas Barrow and The Grinch and yet here I am. Connecting dots that will only be connected by me because I am strange and unusual and so is my brain that just doesnt know how to stop.

The connection I made was this: The Grinch and Mr. Barrow are the same. Hear me out. Let me lay it out for you so you dont automatically assume I am crazy- I am but that is for a different time.

Let's start with their origin shall we; Thomas Barrow was abandoned by his family at a young age we can assume because he was queer and his father had been abusive as well which he speaks of briefly and I wish the show had delved into yet it glossed over it like Fellowes like to do with everyone but the upstairs. I digress. The Grinch is too abandoned young, lonely, and outcasted causing him immense pain and trauma.

While Whoville is filled with happy-go-lucky, well-to-do people so is Downton. Everyone including Bates is looked at in a positive light except, you guessed it, Thomas Barrow. Our whole perception of them is through the eyes of the downstairs and Whoville, their assumptions of them long after what mistakes they have made have been either forgiven or forgotten. The writers want us to think what they think. They are the villains yet if we peel the layers, if we look past their mistakes you will just see two hurt people who hurt those who hurt them in turn.

Thomas Barrow and The Grinch have hard exteriors. They hide behind veneers they have made for themselves while we the audience assume the worst of them because the rest of their society does so.

You're a foul one Friends you don't have none I wouldn't touch you with a 39-and-a-half foot pole!

You're a monster Your heart's an empty hole You're a goner You got garlic in your soul You got garlic in your soul

- are they talking about the grinch or Thomas for the same thing is often said about both.

The Grinch is therefore a queer story with queer themes.

If you look past what the others see and think you will see a character who is simply a product of their environment and deserves love and respect. In conclusion, PEEL THE ONION and happy holidays. This was silly. I know

[stellaluna33]

Oooh you also watched Downton Abbey? Which characters were your most and least favourites? 🙊🙊

Yes! Though I have to say, it's one of those shows that I thought would have been better if they'd ended it a lot sooner, haha! After a while it felt like they were dragging out the story with increasingly manufactured drama, which I found frustrating. But I digress. My favorite characters (especially in the first few seasons) were DEFINITELY Lady Sybil and Tom Branson. Cross-class Intellectual Soulmates with a tragic Forbidden Lovers vibe? That's my kryptonite, man, especially in Season 1. Bonding over their shared passion for political activism? The fact that the young Irish Socialist chauffeur is the only one who takes her seriously? He smuggles her pamphlets and sneaks her into political rallies? And then his, "Oh, please God, no," when she's knocked unconscious at the riot and then clutches her in his arms to carry her to safety? And she takes all the blame for it (I mean, she DID trick him into taking her that time) and tells her father that she'll run away if he fires him? Oh, please, YES! I'm sorry, it's just that this is everything I could possibly want in a romance. Hahaha! I wasn't always satisfied with how the writers handled their relationship going forward, but the fact that they ended up getting MARRIED and running away together made me so SO happy... I just love that they're both such kind-hearted, passionate idealists who care deeply about justice and other people. I don't even want to talk about what the writers did to Tom later, especially after Sybil died (and I hate that too!). Or actually, I do, but ask me some other time because I can't get into that right now. 😂

As far as my LEAST favorite characters? That's tough, because ALL of the characters in this show are pretty well-rounded, being endearing one moment and then insufferable the next... Um... Thomas Barrow and O'Brien are characters I love to hate, though even they have their sympathetic moments, especially as the series progressed. Mary and Edith are both... gosh. I really love them sometimes, and then one or both of them will just be an utter, cold-hearted b*tch and make me terribly disappointed in them. Haha! Well, there's my terribly rambling answer! Thanks for asking! 😊

[themoonlily]

Can’t believe that Eomer of ALL fuckin characters is getting hate, wtf. This modern bs of blaming every problem a female character has on the men in her life or making her be this flawless, perfect, and amazing in everything creature is absolute trash and totally not feminist. Fandom has become fandumb.

Btw on a lighter note, what other Tolkien couples do you like/ship? And other fictional couples in general? Love your stories ❤️

I guess it's easier to pin the blame on the men close to her rather than look at the whole picture or others' point of view (and it’s certainly convenient for certain agendas). I myself don't see how it's useful or even truthful to use specific men of her family as scapegoats, especially when there are so many signs to the contrary. In this day and age mental health problems ought to be understood better; I'm not saying things like abuse and manipulation can't cause or contribute to mental illness, but that's hardly the case with Éowyn - except for what Gríma Wormtongue did, but he was never even mentioned in the original statement, which is surprising because he's literally right there and we have the actual text saying that he stalked her and fed his toxicity as much to her as he did to Théoden. Somehow the actual stalker is not to be blamed at all, but the people who do love her. 

But it's a delicate issue, not necessarily well-handled in discourse, and often it means individual men get thrown under the bus, no matter if they deserve it or not. Which I think feminism shouldn't be about, but I digress. And like you said, making women into perfect and flawless martyrs doesn't do any good, and it's certainly not doing them any justice in the context of their stories. Neither does it do any justice to men, and it's ignoring the larger structures of society that impact both men and women in harmful and toxic ways. In Éowyn's case, if you wanted to be one-sided and biased, you could blame her for abandoning her people in a time of great need and letting down her family, but somehow that doesn't happen. It's generally recognised she deserves compassion for the state she was in and for her circumstances, and you'd think the same would apply for her family, though they are men.

 Anyway, thank you for your message. I believe I won't be answering (publicly) more asks about this issue, because I don't want to drag it out more, but I'm happy to talk further in private messages!  I have always had a soft spot for Aragorn/Arwen, and Faramir and Éowyn are one of the most wholesome couples I've ever come across in literature; so much about them is mirrored in each other and answers to specific troubles they go through during the story. Tolkien writes a more convincing and rewarding romance between them in one chapter than some writers do in entire book series. Also I do love the story of Beren and Lúthien, it’s one of my favourite parts of The Silmarillion. Moreover, I am fascinated with the story of Andreth and Aegnor, although it’s among the most tragic of Tolkien’s relationships, and I wish there was more about them. 

Outside of LOTR, I enjoy Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy, and I have to admit, I enormously liked Mary and Matthew in Downton Abbey (poor Matthew, though!). Another well-written relationship is Agnieszka/Sarkan (from Naomi Novik's Uprooted), although I'm not sure if I could be called a shipper. One of Ye Olde Goode Ships of mine is Henry and Danielle from the film Ever After (which I really should rewatch soon!). I haven't been reading or writing anything about Tanz der Vampire (a weird European musical) lately, but I still feel for Alfred/Krolock. I generally have a weakness for the Beauty and the Beast type of situation, and the Disney film was my big favourite as a kid. 

Also, this is probably going to sound weird considering what I normally post: I loved InuYasha as a teenager, and used to read the occasional fanfic years ago when I came across this brilliant story with Kagome/Sesshoumaru (titled Tales from the House of the Moon) - lo and behold, I've been a grudging shipper ever since. I don't really read InuYasha fanfiction anymore and I certainly don't participate in the fandom, but that one story I still return to now and then. 

Thanks for the ask!

[cinematicnomad]

1, 7, 25 for the fanfic end of year ask :)

001. favorite fic you wrote this year i have a soft spot for take my hand (take my everything) which was the first fic i wrote this year! and kind of the first step back into writing creatively on something new that wasn’t the 7 year monster sterek fic. also my first foray into 9-1-1 fic and was just a lot of fun! 

007. longest completed fic you wrote this year the longest fic i wrote was my second for the year! so show me (family) wound up being around 16k+ for 9-1-1 which kind of burst out of me over the course of one 48 hour window unlike take my hand which took a few weeks to crank out. 

025. a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read SO MANY FICS DUDE!!! i’m gonna rec a couple, some that i re-read this year and some that i discovered for the first time, all from a variety of fandoms. BUT heads up, you didn’t specify a fandom so it’s gonna be a little scattered. also someone else sent me this same question but specified 9-1-1, so i’m gonna reserve those recs for that ask. GET READY!!

and this, your living kiss by opal_bullets (7/7 | 84k+ | M) destiel; AU: college/university; john winchester’s A+ parenting; angst with a happy ending

only a very few people in the world know that the celebrated and reclusive poet jack allen is just kansas mechanic dean winchester, a high school dropout with a few bucks to his name. not that it matters anymore; life has left him so wrung out he never wants to pick up another pen.

until, that is, a string of coincidences leads dean to auditing a poetry course with one dr. castiel novak. the professor is wildly intelligent, devastatingly handsome...and just so happens to be academia’s foremost expert on the poetry of jack allen.

note: i discovered this fic back in the pre-pandemic times of feb 2020 and i’ve read this fic TWICE since, leaving a lengthy comment each time. the poetry in the fic itself is stunningly gorgeous and i have a habit of reading it out loud to myself while reading bc it begs to be heard. this fic is seriously beautiful and makes me want to read all the poet!dean au’s out there in the world. unfortunately there aren’t that many so i just keep coming back to this well. i don’t think i can express enough how much i love this fic. 

lost time by ARCurren (105/105 | 350k+ | T)  bransonxsybil; AU: canon divergent; outsider POVs; original characters; slow burn

the story of a free spirit who was asked to give up the man she loved for a system she didn’t believe in and what happened next. AU after 3.04. 

note: did i think, when i stumbled across this fic years ago, that it would wind up being one of my all time favorites that i return to time and again to re-read? never. did i re-read it for like the dozenth time this year?? 110%. this fic is everything i want from fanfiction—it’s beautifully written, expands on canon, and shows me all the hidden moments the cameras never did (not to mention it’s historically accurate and delves deep into irish politics of the time). the first third or so of this fic is all about tom and sybil’s slow burn romance at downton, but the fic really bursts into its own when we follow the two to dublin and get introduced to all of the author’s deliciously detailed oc’s. heads up warning: this fic was never officially completed, though the final chapter is a beautifully written summary of the final arc of the fic. even so, it’s fucking worth it. 

misfire by mothlights & unpossible (6/6 | 28k+ | T) sterek; time travel; angst with a happy ending; alive hale family; magic; alternating POV

“the debt must be repaid,” she says, and it has the weight of a vow. the words resonate through him, ringing through his ribcage and the bones of his jaw, and stiles loses his breath and maybe his grip on reality because she draws herself upright and where there had once stood a supermodel-level MILK now there is galadriel’s much hotter older sister, a presence of unmistakable power in their ordinary, smells-vaguely-of-thai-takeout hallway. 

“oh shit,” stiles says. 

note: this fic is the first in the misfire ‘verse and i need you to understand that it literally broke me when i binge read these fics a month or so ago. i am a sucker for a solid time travel fic especially bc there are such few good ones in fandom. but this gets at the heart of it all by exploring the idea of stiles getting the chance to save derek’s family and taking it...after he and derek are romantically together in his true timeline and then actually dealing with the ramifications of how that alters everything and how stiles survives in this new present where he and derek are virtual strangers. everyone should definitely read this, but you should also know that i fucking sobbed while reading the sequel (which also has a happy ending, but really digs deep into the nitty gritty angst of the repercussions). 

map of the world by seperis (11/11 | 154k+ | M)  destiel; end!verse; alternate universe; canon divergent; original characters; slow burn

the world’s already over and they’re already dead. all they’re doing now is marking time until the end. 

note: look, if you don’t know about down to agincourt by @seperis, what are you doing with your life?? the series is over 1M+ words so far, the fic author is on book 4 out of a planned 8, and it’s fucking phenomenal. i know i’ve tagged a couple of these recs as slow burn but...this is the slowest slow burn to ever burn. canon!dean travels back into the end!verse timeline just as lucifer kills dean and somehow cas made it out alive and has to keep dean safe while he learns to become his end!verse counterpoint. the world building in this series is intense and i cannot recommend it enough. i’m still in the midst of my re-read bc it’s SUCH an endeavor but i highly recommend it to everybody. 

invictus by ellanasan (116/116 | 355+ | M) hayffie; au: alive abernathy family; pre-hunger games; canon prostitution; slow burn

“so then, before i can even think about doing something stupid like trying to stab him with his fucking golden paperknife, he gives me a choice, see?” haymitch continued, almost detached. “either i play nice like all the other victors or he’ll kill my family. i could either become his puppet—greatest punishment he could give me, according to him—or i could become the example.”

AU in which haymitch’s family lives.

note: hello, have you ever wondered what the hunger games series would be like if haymitch’s family were alive? i fucking hadn’t until 2 years ago when i stumbled across this fic and fell head over heels in love with this ship. @ellanainthetardis is my go to hunger games fic writer for anything exploring canon and i’m obsessed with anything she writes about the OG victors pre-canon (finnick, joanna, chaff, etc). this fic is just 300k+ exploring that world and all the intricate details of how cruel the games could really be. HIGHLY recommend. i definitely re-read it this fall when i needed a pick me up.

don’t know what i’m supposed to do (haunted by the ghost of you) by crazyassmurdererwall (1/1 | 30k+ | T) sterek; canon divergent; angst with a happy ending; ghosts; stiles POV

stiles sees dead people. yep. seriously.

(he’s got this. he’s totally got this. so what if one of them is derek’s mom?)

note: did you know that @crazyassmurdererwall is one of my all time favorite people? and that she’s wicked talented? and that in our spare time she’ll send me a billion fic ideas that are amazing and i get to hear all the intricate details of her plot bunnies? but i digress. this fic is one of my all time fave sterek fics i’ve re-read it sooo many times. there’s just something about the heartache and stiles’ insecurity and the way he tries to shoulder it all on his own. and then there’s alli’s brilliant writing, the way she weaves through a scene and paints a picture just so and manages to tug at your heart strings with her precise word choice. there’s some amazing world building in this fic as it explores this other facet of the supernatural that canon teen wolf never touched upon, and i’m so grateful for that bc alli is the only one who should be allowed to write about ghosts and teen wolf together. 

lagavulin and guinness by snarfle (10/10 | 163k+ | explicit) hartwin; slow burn; PTSD; suicidal thoughts; graphic depictions of violence; domestic abuse

plenty of people had looked down on eggsy throughout his life. he had gotten fairly used to it. didn’t mean it was fair, but he knew how these things worked. what really sucked was that the new arthur was worse than the old one.

“eggsy grimaced. he didn’t know how to explain to harry—who seemed like he hadn’t been discriminated against a day in his life—that the new arthur kept giving him what amounted to suicide missions, and that he was currently bleeding out in a warehouse because of the deliberately bad intel she had given him.”

also featuring: dean is harder to get rid of than eggsy thought, his mum is going off the deep end, there are way too many nefarious plots in play, and eggsy is really beginning to wish that harry would stop holding his hand and kiss him instead.

note: look, i know i recced this literally less than a week ago but i ALSO stayed up til 5AM re-reading this last night and it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. i was on a bit of a kingsman kick earlier this year, so i’ve actually re-read this fic TWICE so far in 2020. i will give you a serious warning in that this fic delves deep into domestic abuse through the lens of a variety of different relationships. it also explores the potential for abuse in hartwin, bc this fic is one of the few that actually commits to the fact that they’re literal spies who murder people. actively. a lot. but seriously, this fic is one of my fave in the fandom and i STRONGLY recommend it. 

waste of breath by bryrosea (1/1 | 22k+ | M) loganxveronica; canon compliant; missing scenes; navy; past child abuse

logan echolls, the nine years, and the navy.

note: bryrosea has an obscene number of amazing logan and veronica fics (her canon divergent series stay with me is another i re-read this year), but i’ve found myself returning to this fic a lot over the years. i’m a sucker for canon compliant fics that explore the missing scenes in between canon and this fic hits all the right buttons by diving deep into how logan echolls went from being a trash fire at hearst college at the end of s3 to being a decorated navy pilot by the movie. it explores logan seeking out therapy and making a life for himself that he can be proud of, all while pining after the girl who got away. and bc this author is amazing, she followed it up with a sequel from veronica’s point of view in the series done by only me. 

the law of equivalent exchange by awed_frog (8/8 | 60k+ | M) destiel; POV castiel; pre-canon; post-canon; canon compliant; immortality; reincarnation

“and what’s the point of it?”

“of love? there isn’t one. loving is its own purpose.” 

note: i mean??? i don’t really know what to say except that this is one of the truly most beautiful fics i have ever read. it follows castiel through time as he meets different reincarnations of sam and dean across history and falls ever more deeply in love. it is achingly tender and so ecstatically written that i die just thinking about it. and that summary? i mean. holy fuck break my heart why don’t you? i don’t know how i missed out on this fic for so long since it was published in 2015 but i only learned about it for the first time back in july and it was. life changing?? when the fic finally reaches the canon timeline and he meets THIS dean it’s peak yearning. 10/10 will read again.

ahead in the count by elisela (17/17 | 50k+ | E) sterek; AU: sports; pitcher!stiles; teacher!derek; long distance relationship; getting together

“yankee fan,” derek says, laughing when stiles makes a disgusted face. “the bronx bombers, stiles, you can’t be a new yorker and—”

“stop talking right now,” stiles sighs, shaking his head. “i can’t believe i still want to kiss you after that,” he says, pulling derek in by his coat. “this is making me rethink everything.” 

“i’ll never watch them again,” derek promises, and stiles laughs against his mouth. 

or: stiles is a starting pitcher for the NY mets when he meets and falls in love with derek. derek doesn’t know. 

note: i read SO MANY of @elisela’s 911 fics this summer, which i loved, and then she got into teen wolf and started writing sterek and i just about died. this fic is amazing, one of my fave sterek AU’s that i’ve read in years. it’s just the right amount of drama and angst and fluff filled with all the joys of miscommunication and character relationships that makes reading sterek such a joy. reading this fic and finding out eli needed fic recs pushed me to dive back in to reading sterek fics for a bit this fall so i can say with the utmost authority that this is one of the best i’ve read in a long time. 

i used to think one day we’d tell the story of us by notequitegucci (2/2 | 32k+ | M) gendrya; alternate universe—modern setting; outsider POV; friends to lovers; friends to lovers

9 times a stark encounters gendry + 1 time he meets the starks.

note: again, this is the first in a 2 part series titled love me like you do that explores arya and gendry’s dynamics together through the point of view of her family. game of thrones ended last year with a whimper but i keep returning to the gendrya tag on ao3 to seek out new, amazing content and also to re-read some old favorites. i can’t remember if i came across this for the first time last year or this one, but i’ve read it and re-read it more times than i can count since and i love it more than i can describe. i’m a total sucker for outsider POV fics and my biggest pet peeve in canon is the fact that none of the stark’s ever found out that arya and gendry had a history together. this modern au fic almost makes up for it by giving me a gendry encounter with every family member and then the big reveal. it’s peak content. 

theeeeeeese recs got a little away from me. i wasn’t originally intending on adding lengthy notes to each entry but ... oh well!! these are all amazing so please enjoy. 

fanfic end of the year asks

[ask-schoolmaster-alfred]

where did inspiration come from for this au? i love it a lot!!!

Thank you so much! I loved this little idea I had and I'm so happy to have found a like-minded audience! It really means a lot to me that so many of you have taken such interest!

Anyway, on to what inspired the au. It's a bit of a long story, so I'll hide lots under the cut, but I think it's safe to say that the initial seed was planted with this little doodle that I posted last week:

I made it and thought that some sort of historical Hetalia thing would be so much fun to make, and on the next page of my sketchbook,

I drew some little everyday items from the 1830s (a fork, sink, lamp, hoop and stick game, etc), which helped me realize I was interested in educating people on historical subjects.

But I didn’t know exactly how I wanted to go about that quite yet, so I ran through a couple of au ideas, like a 1780s farm-boy or a more documentary thing, and I made a timeline of American history from about 1609 to 1914 or so, to help me narrow my focus down. Or not, if I were to have gone with the documentary-type thing, which would have been a blog where I made a drawing for whatever historical event I was covering, then wrote a paragraph or two explaining the event further. would still love to do that but I digress.

After I made that timeline, I was still sure I wanted to make an askblog, but wasn’t completely sure of the history thing, so I continued to play around with a couple au ideas- like the Estate!au (essentially Downton Abby) and Actor!au seen on this page next to my continued history notes, where I came up with the Teacher!au that would soon consume my life. You can see that I was actually leaning toward setting everything in the 70s, as opposed to the 60s. I was honestly super indecisive about it. I love everything from the 50s to the 90s, so in the end it was mainly compromise. And fashion.

Here you can see me trying to flesh out more of the characters and relationships that would make my little town run. Who’s there (everybody), who’s a family, who’s a member of Alfred’s class, whats in the town and, of course, the clothes. I did a butt ton of research at the beginning, and not just on the clothes, but I did make a point to figure out who would wear what, what they would wear, why people wore what they did, etc. I absolutely adore historical dress. It’s one of the best ways to connect with the past, and thanks to all that research I’m in the process of sewing a historical outfit of my own! (1890s day dress, if any of y’all are wondering)

I also realized pretty early on it would be weird to have such a male-heavy population in a small town if the characters were to remain as they are. Which is why I made a huge list of all Hetalia characters and went down the line, highlighting who would get an “upgrade” so to speak ;)

Pictured here is my giant wall of notes, where I researched anything and everything I could of the 1860s. From dress to health to wheat production. I wrote so tiny, it’s truly a sight to behold. I was in it for the long run at this point.

This was the first draft of the intro comic I made for this blog! It wasn’t the first thing ever posted, but It was the official story post! I was super excited to get to this point- even if I did end up cutting the panel with his journal and such. Actually, the final product wasn’t even made in that sketchbook. By this point,I realized this story would require more attention than what my normal sketchbook could devote, so I skipped school for the first and last time in my life went out and bought a whole new sketchbook for the blog!

Of which this is the first page:

Other sources of serious inspiration have been books like: Born In The Year Of Courage, Carry On Mr. Bowditch, Anne of Green Gables, Witch of Blackbird Pond and Diary Of An Early American Boy. Any piece of historical fiction I read in my younger years apparently. Except Anne of Green Gables. I had just finished reading the first book of that series while I was AU brainstorming, and loved it so much that it spawned the Teacher!au. So I guess we all have L. M. Montgomery to thank for my au! So yeah! A bit more than what you bargained for, Anon, but that was an in depth look into the inspiration and creation of this blog!